Apparatus for dropping bombs.



V INVENTOR (Mm o 4 SHEETS-SHEET l- Patented De0. 25,1917.

F. H. PETERSON. APPARATUS FOR DROPPING BOMBS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY19. 1916.

WITNESSES ATTOR N EY F. H. PETERSON.

APPARATUS FOR DROPPING BOMBS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I9I' I916.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

, INVENTOR A lwmilesszs ATTORNEY F. H. PETERSON.

APPARATUS'FOR DROPPING aomss.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19. 1916.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES F. H. PETERSON.

APPARATUS FOR DROPPING BOMBS.

APPLICATIOli FILED JULY 19. 1916.

74 1 mm 4 5 m 2H 5 9 Dm w m .4 m a D1 WITNESSES ATTORNEY FRED H. PETERSON, 0F AMSTERDAM, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR DROPPING BOMBS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

Application filed July 19, 1916. Serial No. 110,187.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED Pn'rnnson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Amsterdam, in the county of Montgomery and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Dropping Bombs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a bomb dropping apparatus for employment on an aeroplane or other airship and is designed to be secured to'the bottom or under side of the car or below the car in such position that its under side will be wholly open so that bombs may drop therethrough without interfering with. any portion of the airship.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bomb droppin apparatus by means of which the maximum number of bombs may be simultaneously set free and permitted to fall as a shower to the earth.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism driven by a motor for simultaneously opening the traps which support the bombs and permit the same to fall.

With these as the principal objects of the invention and others to be set forth hereinafter the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts now to be described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the bomb dropping apparatus,

Fig. 2 is a plan view as seen from the bottom side,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view on the line 4-4: of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a detail of the invention, and

Fig. 7 is a detail of the keeper on one of the trap doors.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 10 indicates a rectangular casing having a triangular extension 11 at one end, which serves as the forward part or how of the device. Upon the casing 10 is a smaller casing 12 divided by longitudinal partitions 13. and transverse partitions 14: into a plu rality of bomb containing cells 15 and a central longitudinal chamber 16.

The casing 10 is divided by four parallel longitudinal partitions, two of them 17 near the outer wall of the casing and two 18 near the center line thereof immediately under the partitions 13 that extend longitudinally within the casing 12. Transverse partitions 19 extend between each partition 18 and the outer partitions 17 and divide the space therebetween into cells 20 that lie immediately below the cells 15 and communicate therewith through openings the full size of the cell 15,, each of said openings being closed by a trap door 21 hinged at 22to the 'top 23 of the casing 10. The cells 20 are slightly wider than the cells 15 and this extra width is added to the hinge side of the cell toprovlde room for the trap door when the latter swings downwardly. Between the partitions 18 is a longitudinal chamber 24 immediately under the chamber 16 and in these two chamhers is placed the trip mechanism for releasing the trap doors 21.

F astened on the under side of each trap door 21 at the free edge thereof is a keeper 25 that projects beyond said free edge and has an inclined upper surface 26 and a flat lower surface 27 that engages over a latch lever 28 and holds the trap door 21 raised and the bottom of the cell 15 closed. The keepers 25 when the trap doors are closed project through openings 29 in the partitions 18, the keepers on one side being in line or opposite those of the other side as also are the latch levers 28. As shown in Figs. 2 and 4 the latch levers 28 are arranged in pairs in the chamber 24, being pivotally mounted each on a bolt 30 that projects through the top 23 of the casing 10 and separated from said top by a spacer 31, the inner ends of the latch levers of each pair overlapping as shown. The outer ends of the levers project into the openings 29 in position to passunder the keepers 25 and preferably have ends bent downward as at 32.

Extending longitudinally within the chamber 16 near the bottom thereof is a rod 33 mounted to slide longitudinally in standards 3s fastened on the bottom of the cham ber 16. Secured o the rod 33 at spaced intervals are a plurality of horizontal fingers 35 that project beyond the center line of the chamber 16 and through slots 36 in the upper end of rocking levers 37 each of which levers is pivoted intermediate its ends in bearings-38 screwed to the floor of the chamber 16. The lower end of each lever 37 extends freely through a longitudinal slot 39 in the floor of the chamber 16 which is also the top of the chamber 24 and of the casing 10. The levers 37 each stand normally in vertical position as in Fig. 3, the lower portion of each being in contact with the overlapping ends ofa pair of latch levers 28, said latch levers being maintained in contact with the levers 3( by coil springs 39*, one of which is connected to each latch lever at one end and to a pin driven into the top of the chamber 24. Stops 4O depend from the top of the chamber 24 in position to engage the outer ends of the latch levers 28 when brought into alinement as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

As thus far described with the parts in the position shown in the drawings, if the rod 33 be moved in its standards in the direction indicated by the arrows, (see Figs. 1 and 3) the levers 37 will be swung on their pivots to cause their lower ends, in engagement with the inner ends of the latch levers, to swing said latch levers about their axes so that their outer ends will pass from below the keepers 25 of the trap door 21 and permit said trap doors to drop, the doors remaining in their tripped position until closed by means now to be described.

Between each partition 17 and the outer wall of the casing 10 is a narrow longitudinal space'4l within each of which spaces near the top 23 of the casing 10 is a horizontal shaft 42 extending from end to end of the space 41 and journaled in bearings 43 secured to the partition 17. Fastened on one of said shafts 42 between its ends is a downwardly projecting arm 44. A. like arm 45 projects upwardly from the other shaft 42 on the opposite side of the casing 10.

. Connecting the free ends of the arms 44 and 45 is a link 46 by means of which when one of said shafts is rocked the other will also be rocked but in an opposite direction. An operating lever 47. is connected to the end of one of the shafts 42 and projects upwardly through the top of the casing 10 in position to be grasped by the hand when the shafts 42 are to be moved. Mounted on each shaft 42 are a plurality of arms 48 that extend downwardly when inoperative into the space 41, the end of each arm curving toward the adjacent partition 17 and projecting a short distance through a vertical slot therein. The number of these arms 48 equals the number of trap doors 21 and are so disposed with respect to the doors that when the shafts 42 are turned by the handle 47 the ends of the arms will engage the trap doors about the center thereof and raise them into closed position, the inclined upper surface 26 of each keeper 25 engaging the downwardly turned end 32 on its respective latch lever 28 and swings the latter to one side until it passes whereupon the lever returns below the keeper and sustains the trap door in the set position as in Fig. 4.

Upon the triangular front 11 of the casing 10 is a housing 50 within which is erected the mechanism for operating the rod 33 to release the trap doors 21. This mechanism comprises a motor of any suitable type not shown by means of which a stop wheel '51 is rotated and a sprocket chain 52 is rically disposed, said pin or pins 56 striking the upturned end of a finger 57 on the forward end of the rod 33 and pushing said rod in the direction indicated by the arrow. On the same shaft 54 with the sprocket wheel 53 is a disk 58 having two diametrical peripheral notches 59 cut therein to receive a stop plate 60 riveted to the lower end of an upright lever 61 pivoted at 62 in the housing 50, the lever 61 extending upwardly through a slot 63 in the top of the housing in position to be grasped by the hand. From the lever 63 above the pivotal point projects a lug 64 toward the stop wheel 51 and in position toengage a pin 65 on said stop wheel when the plate 60 is in a notch 59 of the disk 58. The lever 61 is held normally with the plate 60 engaging the notch 59 by a coil spring 66 attached to the lower end of the lever and to the floor of the housing. The lug 64 may be made for convenience in the manner shown in Fig. 6 by fastening a piece of wire to the lever 61 and bending it forward a short dis tance doubling it uponitself, thus leaving an end 67 directed backward. As thus made when the stop plate 60 is engaged with a notch 59 in the disk 58, the pin 65 in the wheel 51 will be in contact with the lug 64 near the end 67. Upon moving the lever 61 to disengage the stop plate 60 the end 67 of the lug 64 will be pushed beyond the pin 65 and release the same, permitting the wheel and the motor driving it to operate, and of course the sprocket 53 and disk 58 on the shaft 54 Will at the same time be rotated by the sprocket chain 52. Any type of motor suitable for the purpose may be employed in connection with this mechanism but in the present instance a spring motor has been employed, 68 being the winding post visible through an opening in the side of the housing 50.

In use, a bomb or other explosive missile is placed in each cell 15 upon the closed trap door 21, the number of cells being proportional to the size of the casing 10 and the size of the bombs, six cellS being shown in the drawings but this number may be increased if desired by enlarging the casing V or reducing the size of the cells. The 7 tor is wound up if a-spring motor beemployed or made ready to start on the instant if amotor otsome other type "be used. Thelever 61 is movedrearwardly until the stop plate 60 engages a notch 59 and the pin 65 contacts with the lug 64.; Everything being now in readiness, whenth'e bombs are to be dropped the operator grasps the projectingend of the lever 61 where it extends through the top of the housing 50 and moves it in a forward direction to withdraw the stop plate 60 from the notch 59 and the lug 64 beyond the pin 65, thus freeing the motor which immediately begins to rotatedriving thesprocket chain 52 and thesprocketwheel 53, turning the latter in the direction indicated by the arrow so that the pin 56 projecting from the sprocket wheel will after the wheel makes a quarter revolutioncontact with the finger 57 on the rod 83 and move said rod rearwardly carrying the fingers 35 thereon I in the same direction. These fingers 35 pro jecting as they do through slots in vertical levers 37 swing saidlevers about their axes and cause their lower ends in contact with I the inner overlapping ends. of the latch levers 28 to swing said latch levers on theirpivots and disengage their outer ends from the keepers 25 on the trap doors 21. The trap doors being thus released a and through their own weight and the weight of thebombsresting thereon will quickly swing downward into vertical posi tion and permit the bombs to simultaneously fall throughthe cells' 20 and upon some ob ject. The trapdoor's are again returned to position by swinging thelever 47 outwardly thereby rocking the shaft 42 to cause the arms 48 to bear upon and raise the trap door a While I have shown and described what I consider at the present time as the pre ferred form of this invention, it is to be un 'derstoodthat various changes may be made a i in the construction and arrangement of the several parts Withinthe, limit of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention. I i i 1. Ina device ofthecharacter described,

engaged with one face of said trap doors a ,to hold the latter in closed position, vertical levers adapted torelease the trip levers, a reciprocatmg member for actuatmg said "vertical levers, and means for operating said reclprocatmg member.

3. In a device of the character described, acasing, a plurality of cells within said casing, closuremeans for the bottom of said cells, trip levers adapted to hold said closure means in normal position, vertical members adapted to operate the trip levers'and release the closuremeans, reciprocating means for actuating the vertical members, means for controlling said reciprocating means, and mechanism for returning said closure members to normal position. e

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. I I FRED H. PETERSON. Witnesses:

CARL S. SALMON, CHARLES FaRElNHARDT.

copies of this patent may be obtained for flvedce nts each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0. a a 

